SIMPLE HEAT EXCHANGER SIZING

CALCULATOR

Simon Learman

Blackmonk Engineering Ltd

www.blackmonk.co.uk

Copyright © 2009 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd

 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd
www.blackmonk.co.uk

Contents

Contents .......................................................................................................2
Introduction...................................................................................................3
System Diagram...........................................................................................4
Calculation Inputs.........................................................................................5
Calculation Outputs ......................................................................................5
Heat Exchanger Heat Transfer.....................................................................6
Mean Temperature Difference ..................................................................6
Terminal Temperature Differences ...........................................................6
Mixed Flow Heat Exchanger Temperature Correction Factor ...................7
Effective Mean Temperature.....................................................................8
Heat Exchanger Heat Balance..................................................................8
Calculation of Heat Transfer Area ................................................................8
Nomenclature ...............................................................................................9
Example .....................................................................................................10
Description:.............................................................................................10
Requirement: ..........................................................................................10
Solution:..................................................................................................10
Simple Heat Exchanger Sizing Calculator Screenshot: ..........................11

Copyright © 2009 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd

 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd
www.blackmonk.co.uk

Introduction

This document describes the basis and operation of the Blackmonk

Engineering Heat Exchanger Sizing Calculator.

The calculation methodology is based on that described in “Process Heat

Transfer”, D.Q. Kern and “Chemical Engineering Volume 6 – Design”,
Coulson & Richardson.

The calculator determines the heat transfer area required for a simple heat
exchanger. Hot stream flow rate, hot and cold stream inlet and outlet
temperatures and heat capacities and the overall heat transfer coefficient are
required as inputs. The heat exchanger arrangement may be counter-current,
co-current or mixed. The mixed arrangement is for a 1 shell:2 tube-side pass
exchanger but is applicable to any exchanger with an even number of tube-
side passes.

The calculator determines the heat exchanger duty, cold stream flow rate and
relevant temperature differences including correction factors where
appropriate.

The calculator is applicable to heat exchangers with no phase change in

either the hot stream or cold stream and where the stream heat capacities can
be taken as constant through the exchanger.

Copyright © 2009 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd

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www.blackmonk.co.uk

System Diagram

Cold Fluid In
mcold
t1
Cpcold

Hot Fluid Out

Hot Fluid In mhot
mhot T2
T1 Cphot
Cphot

Cold Fluid Out

mcold
t2
Cpcold
CO-CURRENT

Cold Fluid Out

mcold
t2
Cpcold

Hot Fluid Out

Hot Fluid In mhot
mhot T2
T1 Cphot
Cphot

Cold Fluid In
mcold
t1
Cpcold
COUNTER-CURRENT

Cold Fluid Out

mcold
t2
Cpcold

Hot Fluid In
mhot
T1
Cphot

Hot Fluid Out Cold Fluid In

mhot
T2 mcold
Cphot t1
Cpcold
MIXED

Copyright © 2009 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd

 Blackmonk Engineering Ltd
www.blackmonk.co.uk

Calculation Inputs

The following parameters are user specified inputs to the calculation:

Input Description Units

Hot stream flow rate Mandatory user specified hot stream flow rate kg/hr
Mandatory user specified hot stream inlet
Hot fluid inlet temperature C
temperature
Mandatory user specified hot stream outlet
Hot fluid outlet temperature C
temperature
Mandatory user specified cold stream inlet
Cold fluid inlet temperature C
temperature
Mandatory user specified cold stream outlet
Cold fluid outlet temperature C
temperature
Mandatory user specified hot stream specific
Hot fluid specific heat capacity kJ/(kg.K)
heat capacity
Mandatory user specified cold stream specific
Cold fluid specific heat capacity kJ/(kg.K)
heat capacity
Mandatory user specified overall heat transfer 2
Overall heat transfer coefficient W/(m .K)
coefficient
Mandatory user specified heat exchanger type
Heat exchanger type – selected from co-current, counter-current N/A
and mixed

Calculation Outputs

The following parameters are calculated by the software and displayed to the
user:

Output Description Units

Total heat transferred from hot fluid to cold
Heat exchanger duty kW
fluid
Calculated required flow rate of cold fluid to
Cold stream flow rate kg/hr
meet heat exchanger duty
Temperature difference between the hot
Terminal temperature difference 1 and cold streams at the hot stream inlet K
node
Temperature difference between the hot
Terminal temperature difference 2 and cold streams at the hot stream outlet K
node
Mean temperature difference between the
hot and cold fluids across the heat
exchanger. The mean temperature
difference is the log mean temperature
Mean temperature difference K
difference unless the terminal temperature
differences are equal. In this case the
mean temperature difference is the
arithmetic mean temperature difference
R factor Heat capacity rate ratio N/A
S factor Temperature ratio N/A
Correction factor applied to mixed flow type
LMTD correction factor heat exchanger mean temperature N/A
difference
5

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Product of mean temperature difference

Effective mean temperature difference K
and LMTD correction factor
Calculated heat transfer area required to 2
Heat transfer area required m
achieve the calculated heat exchanger duty

Heat Exchanger Heat Transfer

A heat exchanger transfers heat from a hotter fluid to a colder fluid across a
heat transfer surface. The heat exchanger duty can be calculated using the
following relationship:

Q = UAF∆TM Equation 1

Where ∆TM is the mean temperature difference between the hot fluid and the
cold fluid through the heat exchanger.

Mean Temperature Difference

The mean temperature difference used in Equation 1 is generally the log

mean temperature difference. The log mean temperature difference is
calculated using the terminal temperature differences in the following
equation:

∆T1 − ∆T2
∆TM = Equation 2
 ∆T 
ln 1 
 ∆T2 

In the event that the terminal temperature differences are equal, the mean
temperature difference is defined as the terminal temperature difference:

∆TM = ∆T1 Equation 3

Terminal Temperature Differences

∆T1 and ∆T2 are the terminal temperature differences at the hot stream inlet
and hot stream outlet respectively.

In a co-current heat exchanger, ∆T1 is equivalent to the temperature

difference between the hot stream inlet temperature and the cold stream inlet
temperature. ∆T2 is equivalent to the temperature difference between the hot
stream outlet temperature and the cold stream outlet temperature.

In a counter-current heat exchanger, ∆T1 is equivalent to the temperature

difference between the hot stream inlet temperature and the cold stream

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outlet temperature. ∆T2 is equivalent to the temperature difference between

the hot stream outlet temperature and the cold stream inlet temperature.

In a mixed type heat exchanger, the terminal temperature differences are

defined as for a counter-current exchanger.

The terminal temperature differences for each type of exchanger are

summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Terminal Temperature Differences

Heat Exchanger Type ∆T 1 ∆T 2

Co-current T1 – t1 T2 – t2
Counter-current T1 – t2 T2 – t1
Mixed T1 – t2 T2 – t1

Mixed Flow Heat Exchanger Temperature Correction Factor

Mixed flow heat exchangers are effectively a combination of a co-current and

counter-current exchanger. For part of the flow path, the fluids are co-current
and for another part of the flow path, the fluids are counter-current.

The mean temperature difference in a mixed flow heat exchanger is therefore

intermediate between co-current and counter-current flow. The most common
method of estimating the true mean temperature difference in a mixed flow
heat exchanger is to use a temperature correction factor to modify the
counter-current mean temperature difference.

The temperature correction factor for a 1 shell-side:2 tube-side heat

exchanger is determined from the following equation [Ref: “Chemical
Engineering Volume 6 – Design” Coulson & Richardson 2nd Ed. Pg. 586]:

 (1 − S ) 
(R 2
+1) 0.5
ln  
F=  (1 − RS )  Equation 4

(R − 1) ln  [
 2 − S R + 1 − R 2 + 1 0.5 
(
0.5 
) ]
[
 2 − S R + 1 + R + 1 
2
( ) ]
Where

T1 − T2
R= Equation 5
t 2 − t1

t 2 − t1
S= Equation 6
T1 − t1
7

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This correction factor can also be used for any heat exchanger with an even
number of tube passes.

For co-current or counter-current heat exchangers, the temperature correction

factor is 1.

Effective Mean Temperature

The calculator determines the effective mean temperature difference based

on the following equation:

∆TMeff = F∆TM Equation 7

Heat Exchanger Heat Balance

The heat balance defining the heat transfer from the hot stream to the cold
stream for a simple heat exchanger is given by the following relationship:

m hot Cp hot (T1 − T2 ) = mcold Cp cold (t 2 − t1 ) Equation 8

The heat exchanger duty can be defined in terms of specified inputs by:

Q = m hot Cp hot (T1 − T2 ) Equation 9

Calculation of Heat Transfer Area

The required heat transfer area is determined from the specified hot stream
flow rate, hot and cold stream inlet and outlet temperatures, fluid specific heat
capacities, heat exchanger type and the overall heat transfer coefficient.

The calculation routine is described in the following steps:

1. Calculate the heat exchanger duty using Equation 9

2. Calculate the cold stream flow rate using Equation 8
3. Calculate the terminal temperature differences using Table 3
4. Calculate the mean temperature difference using Equation 2 or
Equation 3 if the terminal temperature differences are equal
5. Calculate R using Equation 5
6. Calculate S using Equation 6
7. Calculate the temperature correction factor, F using Equation 4 if the
heat exchanger is a mixed flow type
8. Calculate the effective mean temperature difference using Equation 7
9. Calculate the required heat transfer area using Equation 1

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Nomenclature

m hot = Flow rate of hot stream (kg.s -1 )

mcold = Flow rate of cold stream (kg.s -1 )
T1 = Hot stream inlet temperatur e (C)
T2 = Hot stream outlet temperatur e (C)
t1 = Cold stream inlet temperatur e (C)
t 2 = Cold stream outlet temperatur e (C)
Cp hot = Hot stream specific heat capacity (J/(kg.K))
Cp colt = Cold stream specific heat capacity (J/(kg.K))
U = Overall heat transfer coefficient (W/(m 2 .K)
Q = Heat exchanger duty (W)
∆T1 = Terminal temperatur e difference 1 (K)
∆T2 = Terminal temperatur e difference 2 (K)
∆TM = Mean temperatur e difference (K)
∆TMeff = Effective mean temperatur e difference (K)
F = Temperatur e correction factor (dimension less)
R = Heat capacity rate ratio (dimension less)
S = Temperatur e ratio (dimension less)
A = Heat transfer area (m 2 )

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Example

The following example was taken from “Chemical Engineering Volume 6 –

Design” Coulson & Richardson Example 12.1 page 603.

Description:

Design a 1 shell pass, 2 tube pass heat exchanger to sub-cool condensate

from a methanol condenser from 95C to 40C. Flow rate of methanol 100,000
kg/hr. Brackish water will be used as the coolant with a temperature rise from
25C to 40C.

Methanol specific heat capacity = 2.84 kJ/(kg.K)

Water specific heat capacity = 4.2 kJ/(kg.K)

Requirement:

Find the heat exchanger duty, flow rate of water required and the heat transfer
area.

Solution:

Heat exchanger duty = 4339 kW (cf: C&R Vol 6 published result of 4340 kW)

Cooling water flow rate = 247937 kg/hr (68.9 kg/s) (cf: C&R Vol 6 published
result of 68.9 kg/s)

Heat transfer area = 289.2 m2 (cf: C&R Vol 6 published result of 278 m2)

The difference in calculated heat transfer areas is due to the difference in

temperature correction factors used. The calculator determines the correction
factor as 0.812 from Equation 4 whereas C&R Vol 6 uses an approximate
value of 0.85 obtained from a temperature correction factor chart.

10

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Simple Heat Exchanger Sizing Calculator Screenshot:

INPUTS

Hot stream flow rate mhot 100000.0 kg/hr

Hot fluid inlet temperature Tin 95 C
Hot fluid outlet temperature Tout 40 C
Cold fluid inlet temperature tin 25 C
Cold fluid outlet temperature tout 40 C
Hot fluid specific heat capacity Cphot 2.84 kJ/(kg.K)
Cold fluid specific heat capacity Cpcold 4.2 kJ/(kg.K)
Overall heat transfer coefficient U 600 W/(m2.K)

Heat exchanger type Mixed

OUTPUTS

Heat exchanger duty Q 4338.889 kW

Cold stream flow rate mcold 247936.5 kg/hr
Terminal temperature difference 1 ∆T1 55.0 K
Terminal temperature difference 2 ∆T2 15.0 K
Mean temperature difference ∆TM 30.8 K
R factor R 3.6667
S factor S 0.2143
LMTD correction factor F 0.812
Effective mean temperature
difference ∆TMeff 25.0 K

Heat transfer area required A 289.2 m2

11

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